Invalid&#39;s foot-rest for beds.



M. WELD. INVALIDS FOOT BEST FOR BEDS.

APPLIGATION HLBD MAY 27, 1908,

931,908. Patented Aug. 24, 1909A l l r/ /l f f NTTED STATES PATENT OFFE.

MAUD WELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INVALIDS .FOOT-REST FOR BEDS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAUDVELD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Invalids Foot- Rests for Beds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an invalids footrest for beds, and its main object is to provide an improved foot-rest for use in beds of the ordinary type, which may be adjusted to support the fe'et in different angular positions, and which admits of being shortened or lengthened for use by patients of different lengths. Y

The principal object of the invention is to provide such a foot-rest the foot-support of which may be inclined from the perpendicular to any extent desired and which may be adjusted horizontally to various positions.

Foot-rests for beds as heretofore con-l structed have employed a perpendicular foot-support and have embodied means for permitting a limited horizontal extension of the device. A foot-rest of such a type forms a support for the feet, but it is not a proper rest for an invalid, as it holds the feet in an unnatural position and does notk admit of restful change of position by the patient.

The device herein described is capable of extension for patients of all lengths, and the foot-support thereof may be set at any angle between the perpendicular position and a position approximately midway between the vertical and horizontal, thus permitting an angular change of position of the support to be readily made. This angular adjustment is herein shown as effected by connecting members between the stationary member resting on the bed and bearing against the foot-board thereof and a movable foot-support-ing member, each of these connecting members being made up of a plurality of telescoping sections, said sections having locking means for securing them in any desired adjusted position.

Another important feature of the invention relates to pivoting mea-ns between the stationary member and the connecting members and also between the foot-support and said connecting members, this construction coperating with the telescoping sections to effect horizontal and angular adjustment, and also permitting folding up of the device into small space when not in use.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 27, 1908.

Patented Aue'. 24, 1909.

serial No. 435,293.

Other features of the invention not hereinbefore referred to will be hereinafter described and claimed and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of one embodiment of the device; Fig..

2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same; Fig. l is a perspective view of the same on a smaller scale, showing the device in operative position on a bed; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modification, showing an additional central connecting member for strengthening the device; and Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 5.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawings, l represents a support, usually of wood or metal, and substantially rectangular, adapted to rest on a bed and bear against the foot-board thereof. This support l has a plurality of lugs 2 fixed to its inner side, as by screws, one of said lugs being shown as fixed near each. of the four corners of said support.

The lugs 2 are formed with bearings 3 having journal openings therethrough. Between the inner bearing faces of the projections 3, tubular members 4, usually circular in crosssection and having eyes 5, are secured, as by clamp screws 6. Within the tubular member 4 other telescoping sections 7 and 8 work back and forth, the length and number of such telescoping sections for the upper and lower port-ions of the device being capable of variation as desired. Ordinarily sufficient variation for all purposes will be obtained by the use of the sections shown. The tubular sections 4 and 7 are formed with split projections 9, and through eyes in these projections clamp-screws are passed, thus permitting locking at any desired length. The outer sections 8 need not be of tubular construction, each of these sections being formed with a flattened end portion or eye. This flattened end portion is held between the bearing faces of lugs 10, similar to the lugs 3, said Vlugs being secured, as by screws, to a footsupport 1l.

The foot-support 1l may be made of wood, metal or other suitable material, and by means of the pivoted telescoping connect-ing devices hereinbefore referred to its angular position with respectI to the surface of the bed may be varied within wide limits. To afford an agreeable resting surface for the feet, and to protect the bed-clothes, a covering of fabric or other suitable material is preferably used on the foot-support and the stationary member 1. rIhis covering is indicated at 12, and may be applied to the Whole surface of said members, as shown in Fig. 1, or to only such parts as may come in contact with the feet of the patient or the coverings of the bed. Said covering 12 Will usually be cut away at the lugs 2 and 1() to allow such lugs to be attached directly to the parts 1 and 11.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is illustrated a modiication of the device, in which an additional central connecting member 13 is employed. The use of an additional connector at this point gives great rigidity to the device, which is very desirable, as the foot-support is subjected at times to great pressure. This additional strengthening connector also is formed of telescoping sections, and is connected to the member 1 and the foot-support 11 in thev same manner as the upper and lower connecting members before described.

A device such as illustrated herein may be taken apart readily and stored in small space, or may, after having its various clamp-screws loosened, be telescoped and moved on its pivots until it occupies a comparatively small amount of space, the connectors and the parts 1 and 11 then being substantially in juxtaposition and parallel. When in operative position on the bed a great range of adjustment, both for length and angular position, is easily and quickly obtainable, anda very rm support is provided for the feet at any angle that may be desired to secure the greatest comfort to the patient.

Vhat I claim is:

In an invalids foot-rest for beds, the combination With a rigid supporting member of large area adapted to rest against the footboard of a bed,'of a rigid foot-support, adjustableconnecting means between said supporting member and foot-support and attached thereto nearV both the bottom and top thereof for permitting adjustment of the foot-support to different distances from said supporting member and to different angular positions With respect thereto, and means for locking said upper and lower connecting means to hold the foot-support rigidly in any adjusted angular position, said footrest being a unitary article unconnected with the bed.

Signed at St. Louis, StateV of Missouri this 13th day of May, A. D. 1908. i

MAUD vWELD. lVitnesses:

A. C. GERBER, A. W. HoUcK. 

